When I first returned to modern maps, I discovered a brand called Heritage in 2008. It immediately appealed to me and while I’ve had a love-hate relationship with the brand and its enforced short prints, it’s always been one of my favorites.
I didn’t need any of the parallels – the regular set was sufficient – but at the time there weren’t many. There were the chrome parallels and then you could find chrome cards with black borders as Target exclusives, which were very popular at the time. I liked that one.
Then there were other parallels related to retail issues – red borders for Target and blue for Walmart – that were fun and, again, manageable. Purple chrome hotbox parallels too.
These days, though, I can’t even keep track of them all. 2025 Heritage sees an explosion of parallel maps. While 2024 Heritage also had a lot, I was able to ignore them because I love the ’75 design so much that I don’t need a stinking parallel. But ’25 has more and I’m not immune.
If you’re a Heritage maniac like me, you’ve collected quite a few parallels just by purchasing packs and boxes in an attempt to complete the set. I have some of the most iterations. I’m a little proud of them. Honestly, if Heritage was still on store shelves, I’d probably buy it just for the parallels. That would be a very stupid move on my part since I only need 25 short prints to complete the set, but that hasn’t stopped me before. I like parallels between edge colors more than any other parallel. (See, Topps, this is what you’re missing when you keep products off the shelves — gullible shoppers like me!)
This is how you know if someone has purchased a significant amount of Heritage.
The only card that wasn’t a parallel was the Shohei Ohtani insert at the top of the post, and anything with that player is handy enough.
This is the average parallel chrome variant, which has been part of Heritage since the very beginning.
These pink glittery chrome colors are about as over-the-top as you can get. I think I have more of these types of inserts than any other, probably because of the types of boxes I bought. I thought they were crazy – almost sickly – when I first pulled them. I’ve gotten somewhat used to them, but I also agree that they are completely unnecessary.
A lovely early Christmas gift with a Kershaw card with red and green borders. I have the Kershaw card with the blue border and the pink glitter. No, I’m not going for the whole rainbow for this. I just take what people want to send/what appeals to me. I’m much happier that way.
And finally, a red border version of this great card. I have already said that I will take any variation of this card. But I don’t actively try to land them. There are just too many and I’m already doing stupid things like needing two versions of the regular map — this is a short print!
I’m sure Stuart gets it. I needed everything he sent me and that’s hard to do with so much heritage I’ve collected this year. Hard to do unless you’re a fellow Heritage maniac.
And again, I’d have so many more (and many, many more dupes) if the store shelves were stocked like they were ten years ago, when my interest in heritage wasn’t nearly as strong.
Maybe Topps knows what’s good for me. It’s like my mother runs the company.
#heritage #maniac